WIRED: Ghostbusting finally got me to believe in the power of VR

Jake Barton, known for designing the 9/11 Memorial Museum and Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Museum, writes about his experience trying out Ghostbusters: Dimension at Madame Tussaud’s. His takeaway is a powerful one, which THE VOID is proud to have created for him.

TIMES SQUARE IN August is unlikely to make any New York City resident’s must-visit list. Yet here I am, with my wife, waiting in line for “Ghostbusters: Dimension,” a VR experience at Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum (one building removed from Dave & Buster’s, around the corner from the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.). Despite the air-conditioning, it’s swelteringly hot, apparently a function of all the equipment waiting for us.

The line, as you might expect, has a distinct Comic-Con vibe: the mustachioed guy in a fantasy t-shirt, the excitable teenage boys, the family whose youngest is explaining that “seriously, ghosts are actually real.” And at the front, a staff barker named Christopher Thornton, whose signature jumpsuit is the perfect shade of light gray. After trying to banish parts of the line that are on an opposing Pokemon Go Team, Christopher launches into his full orientation speech. “If you are feeling sick, dizzy or disoriented,” he says, “reach out and touch a wall. All the walls are real.”

Behind us, a digital sign flashes: “Do NOT climb! Do NOT run! Do NOT swim!”